Army Commander: Iraqi Forces to Drive ISIL out of Western Mosul by Friday

Army official in Nineveh province said he expects full liberation of the Western side of Mosul by Friday.
“Iraqi troops managed to retake most regions and districts in Western Mosul from the ISIL terrorists,” an Iraqi army commander told Sputnik, expecting the whole region to be freed by Friday.
In a statement earlier on Tuesday, Federal Police Chief Lt. Gen. Shaker Jawdat announced that his troops were in control of 80 percent of Iqtisidayeen and 17 Tamuz (July 17th) districts, in addition to eight other pivotal targets that were previously retaken.
“The troops shelled ISIL’s defense lines as well as their headquarters North of the Old City and killed dozens of the militants. Fifteen sq/ km were freed, 168 booby-trapped vehicles were destroyed, 200 landmines were removed while 24 bombs were defused,” he added.
“Six families detained by ISIL in 17 Tamuz were freed. They were kept for several days inside one of the houses with the doors locked and the house booby-trapped to prevent them escape,” he added.
“The total number of families evacuated from battlefields have reached 850 so far since the start of the last phase of military operations in Western Mosul on May 6,” Jawdat said.
In a press conference, the Joint Operations Command declared on Tuesday controlling 89.5 percent of Western Mosul and killing 16,467 members of the ISIL since beginning of operations in Western Mosul.
Iraqi commanders had predicted recapturing the remaining parts of the city this month.http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960227000986